The systems are live. The contracts are loaded. The dashboards are built. So why hasn’t performance followed?
For many health systems, the gap between ERP implementation and ERP value is real — and it shows up consistently regardless of platform, size, or GPO structure. The reason is rarely the technology. It’s the operating discipline surrounding it.
The Operating Discipline Gap is an executive brief written by RPI Consultants Partner and COO, Stephanie Kowal, for supply chain and finance leaders navigating exactly this challenge. It draws on 15+ years of direct implementation and advisory experience to address what separates health systems that realize the value of modernization from those still waiting for it.
Three Questions Every Supply Chain Executive Should Be Able to Answer
This brief is structured around a simple framework — and a practical self-assessment to go with it.
What should you validate?
From item master integrity and contract accuracy to OTIF measurement and ERP-to-EDI Exchange transaction reliability, validation ensures your performance data reflects operational reality rather than distorting it.
What should you govern?
Governance isn’t a phase that comes after stabilization — it’s the mechanism through which performance is monitored, reviewed, and improved. The brief outlines the three core disciplines high-performing organizations institutionalize: defined ownership, standardized definitions, and consistent review cadence.
What should you measure?
The brief identifies the KPIs most directly tied to financial outcomes — including contract compliance rate, OTIF by supplier, inventory turns, working capital, and analytics action rate — and explains how to build accountability around them.
What’s Inside
Beyond the framework, the brief covers:
- Why post-go-live obstacles are predictable — and how to get ahead of them
- The governance trap many organizations fall into even when structures exist on paper
- A closer look at OTIF measurement and why the data behind it matters as much as the metric itself
- The three-stage path from Stabilization to Alignment to Optimization
- The Executive Validation Checklist — a side-by-side self-assessment across Validate, Govern, and Measure
Close the Gap
For supply chain and finance leaders, the path forward isn’t another platform evaluation. It’s an honest assessment of the operating discipline surrounding the systems already in place.
Download the brief to start that assessment
